what's on your tree?

How do you decorate your tree?
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I'm decorating my tree today, ending up with the same decorations I started using about 6 years ago, and I still love the look.

It was 6 years ago in Dec. that my husband and I went for a vacation to Sanibel Island in Florida to go shelling. I picked up a ton of large shells, came home and cleaned them up. I drilled holes in them and strung thin thread through them and used them on the tree. I really loved my "Florida shell tree" so much that every year I pull out those shells again. The following year I added small pine cones gathered locally, that I spray painted gold. Last year I made folded fans out of a really cool oriental wallpaper that had the same color tones as the shells and gold pinecones.

I have a large collection of antique christmas ornaments but for some reason I just hate to drag out those glass ornaments because I have a young grandson and two young cats!

Your tree sounds beautiful, very original. I love shells. The gold pine cones sound pretty. My tree has a mixture of special ornaments that we get for the kids every year or ones they pick out. There are also special ones from family for my husband and I. (Like one that rotates with two skiers, it symbolizes our honeymoon skiing at the Whistler resort in Canada, one for our first home, many firefighter ornaments-my hubby is one, and ornaments that symbolize each member of the family) I also have some beautiful bulbs. This year my color theme is red and silver so I also have red and silver ribbon on the tree. I always put pretty garlands on it also. Sometimes flowers, like white sparkling poinsettias.

I was an interior designer for 7 yrs. so everything as far as Christmas decor goes is pretty well-matched. Always a color theme. But when it comes to the tree, I will put on matching ribbon and garland, but the special ornaments mean the most. It doesn't matter to me whether they match or not. Fun thread, thanks! Kim

My mum used to be very picky and very themed about how we decorated our tree(s) each year. When I was little it used to be one tree (the live one) was all in blues and very elegant and so on, then the other tree (artificial) was our candy land tree. Eventually we all became very allergic to real trees and we only had our candyland tree left.

After several years of only a candy tree, I said to my mum that we had so many ornaments and never used half of them. Why couldn't we just have a free-for-all? So, that's what we've done, and for the past 3 years our tree has been very stuffed. It looks pretty though and I think it displays us as a family, slightly pretty-slightly dorky-and slightly crazy.

I refused to pay the high price only to toss it out after 3 weeks, so I cut large juniper branches from our bush in front. I wired them together, stuck them into a large bucket, and of course added my shells and pinecones. It was beautiful and didn't cost me a dime.

Last year I bought a very large artificial tree complete with tons of lights at the thrift store, for a pittance.

I have my fake tree that I put up every year, we don't have a real one as everyone except me is allergic to the cedar or whatever it is so no one would be enjoying it!. I decorated it my self - including putting on the lights by myself, (son has broken are ) It doesn't look all that great, but I'm not feeling well - coming down with something but after you get it all decorated it looks pretty good. Anyway, I have some new decorations as well as old, some are as old as 25 years old!! I have some new ones too, they are "Red Hat" ones. Also there are the ones that my children made in school when they were little.

This morning my tree had frost on it, but now it probably has rain! I bought it a week or so ago and it is out on the back deck. I won't put it up until this Sunday and it will probably take me a couple of days to decorate it.

When my late husband was alive we were scuba divers. We decorated the tree in an ocean theme. Even had bubbles. Very pretty.

Now I decorate with mostly angels. I also have a lot of birds, but I am slowly replacing them with more angels. Eventually it will have all angels.

I have always loved those twinkle lights. Not the flashing ones, but the ones that twinkle individually. A few years ago I bought one strand and then the next year bought another. I would be happy to just have the lights on the tree.

Oh, yeah, and candy canes! My DH thinks it isn't decorated until there are candy canes on it so he can pluck them off and eat them!

We got one that has the optical fibers..other then that ..candy canes. I think thats enough. the kids like it. So my job is done now onto the next thing on my list...Hhhmmm think you can put all the kids name on one present..it's a shirt for one of the twins...think they would understand? No? Man guess I gotta go shopping too!!
CindyVR

After yrs of using the colors and things for everyone else I finally got to do my tree.

It's taken me about 4 yrs to collect all I have today but I love it.

It has cold and blue balls but lots of one of a kind solid color blue hand blown glass of small to large sizes.

I have some ornaments of hand painted cherubs playing violens and they sit on gold balls.

I have violens all over the tree in different sizes, all gold. my tree topper is a hugh gold bow with an almost life size violen with bow in the center.

I love to bird watch and paint birds but I have bought a large number of birds made from glass, paper , beads and etc. I have several hummers in crystal.

Clear rain drop ice cycles are all over the tree.

Large poinsetta blossoms coated in irresident sugar are there also. bundles of large gold balls tied with ribbon fit in .

One ornament you'll be amazed at is finial shaped tree toppers from the dollar store are tied with ribbon and jut out here and there. I got them afer christmas for 10 cents apiece and have used them on my fireplace also.

And much more.

I love it and everybody else does to. I was afraid I would not get to do it this year with this awful flare but it took a few days and I got it done.

If I can get my dau up her with her good camera I'll try to post a pic of it.

Almost forgot. I have 2 large glass cubes that serve as my sofa tables and are usually filled with ceramic daffodills and butterflies but at christmas I fill them with gold and silver balls. The kids love it.

I've made some small arrangements for throughout the house and have greenery with pinecones over the front door and an oversise basket filled with glossy pine cones sprinkled with sugar crystal and tied with a candy cane bow just outside the door .

You deserve a hand for all of that. I would love to sea pic. of your x-mas tree. So glad that someone felt like decorating their tree. It sounds beautiful. Congratulations on getting your x-mas tree up and decorated fully.

Hi Sharon. Hope you and your family are all getting well and healthy. Yes, my cats are getting into trouble with the tree also.

I'm all set for February to go to Yellowstone for 3 nights. I've got thermal underwear, snow boots for -20 degrees, a new parka, and several wool sweaters. My husband is also buying another digital chip for the camera so I can take over 2,000 pictures! I told him we will never get there again and I wanted to be sure to get every shot I could.